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Paper 2102

This paper will be available every year.

The Poetic World of the Hebrew Bible

Syllabus

Description

This paper investigates the poetic traditions of the Old Testament, including prophetic, liturgical, and wisdom literature. Consideration is given to such topics as method in Old Testament study, the theological themes of the Old Testament, prophecy and particular prophets, psalmody and the Psalms, wisdom and the wise, the ethics of the prophets, the development of messianic and apocalyptic ideas, the relation of the Old Testament writings to ancient Near Eastern culture, and the reception of the biblical poems and songs in Jewish and Christian traditions.

The textual focus is on the poems/songs of ‘Second Isaiah’ (Isaiah 40–55) and on two sets of psalms (Psalms 42–49 & 84–89). Examination gobbets will come from these chapters, and there will also be an opportunity to comment on the Hebrew text of Psalms 46–49.

Aims

To enable students to acquire a knowledge of the poetic traditions in the Old Testament, and to develop critical understanding by introducing them to basic issues of method, with particular reference to the study of two major Old Testament texts.

Objectives

Students who successfully complete this paper will have:

(a) gained knowledge about and understanding of the poetic traditions and theological themes of the Old Testament in general;

(b) gained a close knowledge of two particular poetic texts set for special study in English, with the option of having studied a section of one of these in Hebrew;

(c) explored the literary and historical backgrounds to these writings and the trajectories of interpretation and appropriation to which they gave rise;

(d) reflected upon the criteria employed in assessing evidence, and the possibility and desirability of achieving consensus concerning them.

Delivery

16 lectures; 16 classes; 8 tutorials.

Assessment

is by a three-hour written examination in TT of the second year of the Honour School.

Reading list

Psalmody, Wisdom, Prophecy, and Other Poetic Texts

This reading list is in four sections:

1. Methodological Issues

2. Three Set Texts (Psalms 90-106; Isaiah 40-55; Proverbs 1-9, of which you may choose two)

3. Other Poetic Texts

4. Post-Biblical Poetry

1. Methodological Issues

A. Reading Biblical Poetry

Alter, R., The Art of Biblical Poetry (rev. edn., New York: Basic Books, 2011).

Berlin, A., The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism (rev. edn., Cambridge: CUP, 2008).

Gillingham, S. E., The Poems and Psalms of the Hebrew Bible (Oxford: OUP, 1994).

Kugel, J. L., The Idea of Biblical Poetry (London: John Hopkins University Press, 1998).

Watson, W. G. E., Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to its Techniques (reprint edn., London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2004).

Watts, J. W., Psalm and Story: Inset Hymns in Hebrew Narrative (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992).

B. Oral and Written Poetry

Avishur, Y., Studies in Hebrew and Ugaritic Psalms (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1994).

Arnold, B. T., and B.E.Beyer, Readings from the Ancient Near East (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2002)

Boda, Mark J. (ed.), Why?... How Long?. Studies on Voice(s) of Lamentation Rooted in Biblical Hebrew Poetry (New York: Bloomsbury, 2014).

Culley, R. B., Oral Formulaic Language in the Biblical Psalms (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1967)

Jarick, J., (ed.), Sacred Conjectures: The Context and Legacy of Robert Lowth and Jean Astruc. Papers presented at a “Sacred Conjectures” Conference held at Oxford University in 2003. (New York: T&T Clark, 2007).

Niditch, S., Oral World and Written Word: Ancient Israelite Literature (London: SPCK, 1997).

Schmidt, B. B. (ed.), Contextualizing Israel’s Sacred Writings: Ancient Literacy, Orality, and Literary Production (Atlanta, Ga.: SBL, 2015).

Tsevat, M., A Study of the Language of the Biblical Psalms (Philadelphia, Pa.: SBL, 1955).

2. Three Set Texts (Psalms 90-106, Isaiah 40-55, Proverbs 1-9)

A. Psalms 90-106 (Hebrew Text: Psalms 93-99)

i. General Studies of the Psalms

Brown, W. P., (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms (Oxford: OUP, 2014).

Brueggemann, W., The Message of the Psalms (Minneapolis, Mn.: Augsburg, 1984).

Gerstenberger, E., Psalms, Part I, With an Introduction to Cultic Poetry (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1988).

Gillingham, S. E., Psalms through the Centuries. Vol. 1. (Chichester: Blackwell, 2008).

Gillingham, S. E., ‘The Zion Tradition and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter’, in J. Day (ed.), Temple and Worship. Proceedings of the Oxford in Proceedings of the Old Testament Seminar (London: T & T Clark, 2005) 308-341.

Day, J., Psalms (London: T & T Clark, 2003).

Gunkel, H. and J. Begrich,, Introduction to the Psalms: the Genres of the Religious Lyric of Israel (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1998).

Bullock, C. Hassell, Encountering the Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2004).

Hunter, A., Psalms (London: Routledge, 1999).

Johnston, P. S., and D.G. Firth, (eds.), Interpreting the Psalms: Issues and Approaches (Leicester: Apollos, 2005).

O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1997).

Kraus, H-J., Theology of the Psalms (Minneapolis, Mn.: Fortress Press, 1992).

McCann, J. C. (ed.), The Shape and Shaping of the Psalter (Sheffield: JSOT Press 1993).

Mowinckel, S., The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 2 vols., (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1962).

Sabourin, L., The Psalms. Their Origin and Meaning (New York: Paulist Press, 1974).

DeClaissé-Walford, N., Reading from the Beginning. The Shaping of the Hebrew Psalter (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1997).

Westermann, C., Praise and Lament in the Psalms (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1981).

Wilson, G. H., The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1985).

ii. Psalms 90-106 Commentaries and Specific Publications

Craigie, P. L., Psalms 1-50 (2nd edn., Nashville, Tenn: Word Books, 2004).

Tate, M., Psalms 51-100 (Dallas, Tex.: Word Books, 1990).

Allen, L., Psalms 101-150 (Waco, Tex.: World Books, 1983).

Goldingay, J., Psalms, 3 vols. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2006-2008).

Hossfeld, F. L., and E. Zenger, Psalms 51-100 (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 2005).

--------------------------------------- Psalms 101-150 (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 2011).

Kraus, H-J., Psalms 1-59 (Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg, 1988).

-------------- Psalms 60-150 (Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg, 1989).

Creach, J. ‘The Shape of Book Four of the Psalter and the Shape of Second Isaiah’, JSOT, 80 (1998), 63-76.

Gelston, A., ‘Editorial Arrangement in Book IV of the Psalter’ in Dell, K. J., Davies, G., and Von Koh, Y. (eds.), Genesis, Isaiah, and Psalms: A Festschrift to Honour Professor John Emerton for His Eightieth Birthday (Leiden: Brill, 2010) 163-76.

Gillingham, S.E. ‘Psalms 90-92: Text, images, music’, Revue des Sciences Religieuses 89/3 (2015) Le Psautier: poésie et théologie, pp. 255-76.

Gillingham, S. E., ‘Psalms 90-106: Book Four and the Covenant with David’, European Judaism, 48/2 (2015), 83-101.

Howard, D. M., The Structure of Psalms 93-100: Their Place in Israelite History (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1997).

Mournet, K. J., ‘Moses and the Psalms: The Significance of Psalms 90 and 106 within Book IV of the Masoretic Psalter’, Conversations with the Biblical World XXXI (2011) 66-79.

DeClaissé-Walford, N. L., Reading from the Beginning: The Shaping of the Hebrew Psalter (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1997).

Wallace, R. A., The Narrative Effect of Book IV of the Hebrew Psalter (New York: Peter Lang, 2007).

Wilson, G. H., ‘Shaping the Psalter: a Consideration of Editorial Linkage in the Book of Psalms’ in McCann, J. C. (ed.), The Shape and Shaping of the Psalter (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1993), 72-82.

B. Isaiah 40-45 (Hebrew text: Isaiah 40-42)

i. General Studies of Prophecy

Aberbach, D., Imperialism and Biblical Prophecy, 750-500 BCE (London: Routledge, 1993).

Barton, J., Oracles of God: Perceptions of Ancient Prophecy in Israel after the Exile (New edn., Oxford, 2007).

Blenkinsopp, J., A History of Prophecy in Israel (Rev. edn., Louisville, Ky., 1996).

Boda, M. J., and L.M. Wray Beal, (eds.), Prophets, Prophecy, and Ancient Israelite Historiography (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2013).

Brenner, A., A Feminist Companion to the Latter Prophets (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995).

Carroll, R. P., When Prophecy Failed (London: SCM, 1979).

Clements, R. E., Old Testament Prophecy: From Oracles to Canon (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996).

Coggins, R., A. Phillips, and M.A. Knibb, (eds.), Israel’s Prophetic Tradition: Essays in Honour of Peter R. Ackroyd (Cambridge: CUP, 1982).

Day, J. (ed.), Prophecy and Prophets in Ancient Israel. Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar (New York: T & T Clark, 2010).

Emerson, G., (ed.), Prophets and Poets (Oxford: Bible Reading Fellowship, 1994).

Gordon, R. P., and Barstad, H. M., (eds.),‘Thus Speaks Ishtar of Arbela’: Prophecy in Israel, Assyria and Egypt in the Neo-Assyrian Period (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2013).

L.L. Grabbe, Priests, Prophets, Diviners, Sages. A Socio-Historical Study of Religious Specialists in Ancient Israel (Valley Forge, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1995).

L.L. Grabbe and M. Nissinen (eds), Constructs of Prophecy in the Former and Latter Prophets and Other Texts (Atlanta: SBL, 2011).

Hayes, E. R. and L.-S. Tiemeyer, (eds.) ‘I lifted my eyes and saw’: Reading Dream and Vision Reports in the Hebrew Bible (London: Bloomsbury, 2014).

Kelle, B. E., and M.B. Moore, (eds.), Israel’s Prophets and Israel’s Past: Essays on the Relationship of Prophetic Texts and Israelite History in Honor of John H. Hayes (London: T & T Clark, 2006).

Long, B., Monotheism and the Prophetic Minority (Sheffield: Almond, 1983).

Marlow, H., Biblical Prophets and Contemporary Environmental Ethics: Re-reading Amos, Hosea, and First Isaiah (Oxford: OUP, 2009).

Matthews, V. H., The Social World of the Hebrew Prophets (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2001).

Mays, J. L., and P.J. Achtmeier, (eds.) Interpreting the Prophets (Philadelphia, Pa.: Fortress Press, 1987).

Nissinen, M., Prophecy in its Ancient Near Eastern Context (Atlanta, Ga.: SBL, 2000).

Rofe, A., Introduction to the Prophetic Literature (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997).

Sawyer, J. F. A., Prophecy and the Prophets of the Old Testament (Oxford: OUP, 1987).

Stökl, J., and C.L. Carvalho, (eds.), Prophets Male and Female: Gender and Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Ancient Near East (Atlanta, Ga.: SBL, 2013).

Westermann, C., Basic Forms of Prophetic Speech (Cambridge: Lutterworth, 1991).

Wilson, R. R., Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel (2nd edn., Philadelphia, Pa.: Fortress Press, 1980).

ii. Isaiah 40-55: Commentaries and Specific Publications

Baltzer, K., Deutero-Isaiah. A Commentary on Isaiah 40-55 (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 2001).

Blenkinsopp, J., Isaiah 40-55 (London: Doubleday, 2002).

Goldingay, J., and D. Payne, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Isaiah 40–55, 2 vols., (London: T&T Clark, 2006)

Paul, S., Isaiah 40-66: Translation and Commentary (Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2012).

Westermann, C., Isaiah 40-66 (London: SCM, 1969).

Whybray, R. N., Isaiah 40-66 (London: Oliphants, 1975).

Barstad, H. M., The Babylonian Captivity of the Book of Isaiah: ‘Exilic’ Judah and the Provenance of Isaiah 40-55 (Oslo: Novus, 1997).

Blenkinsopp, J., ‘Second Isaiah – Prophet of Universalism’, JSOT 41 ( 1988), 83 -103.

Clements, R. E., ‘Beyond Tradition History: Deutero-Isaianic Development of First Isaiah’s Themes’, JSOT 31 (1985), 45-13.

Clifford, H. ‘Deutero-Isaiah and Monotheism’ in Day, J. (ed.) Prophecy and Prophets (LHBOTS 531; London: T&T Clark Continuum, 2010) 267-289.

Gelston, A., ‘Universalism in Second Isaiah’, JTS 43 (1992), 377-397.

Gottwald, N. K., All the Kingdoms of the Earth (New York: Harper & Row, 1964).

Kapelrud, A. S., ‘The Main Concern of Second Isaiah’, VT XXXII (1982), 12 ff.

Laato, A., The Servant of YHWH and Cyrus: A Reinterpretation of the Exilic Messianic Agenda in Isaiah 40-55 (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1992).

Martin-Achard, R., A Light to the Nations (London: Oliver and Boyd, 1962).

Mettinger, T. N. D., Farewell to the Servant Songs (Lund: CWK Gleerup, 1983).

Alonso Schökel, L., ‘Isaiah’, in Alter, R., and Kermode, F. (eds.), The Literary Guide to the Bible (London: Collins, 1987) 165-83.

Smart, J. D., History and Theology in Second Isaiah (London: Epworth, 1967).

Wilcox, P., and D. Paton-Williams, ‘The Servant Songs in Deutero-Isaiah’, JSOT 42 (1988), 79-102

Williamson, H. G. M., The Book Called Isaiah: Deutero-Isaiah’s Role in Composition and Redaction (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994).

Whybray, R. N., The Second Isaiah (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995).

C. Proverbs 1-9

i. General Studies of Wisdom Literature

Blenkinsopp, J., Wisdom & Law in the Old Testament (Rev. edn., New York, OUP, 1995).

Blenkinsopp, J., Sage, Priest, Prophet: Religious and Intellectual Leadership in Ancient Israel (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995).

Brown, W. P., Wisdom’s Wonder: Character, Creation, and Crisis in Bible’s Wisdom Literature (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2014).

Clements, R. E., Wisdom for a Changing World (Berkeley, Calif.: BIBAL Press, 1990).

Collins, J. J., Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1998).

Collins, J. J., Sterling, G. E., and Clements, R. E. (eds), Sapiental Perspectives. Wisdom Literature in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Leiden: Brill, 2004).

Crenshaw, J. L., Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction (3rd edn., Louisville, 2010).

Crenshaw, J. L. (ed.), Studies in Ancient Israelite Wisdom (New York: Ktav, 1976).

Davies, P., Scribes and Schools (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998).

Day, J., R.P. Gordon, and H.G.M. Williamson, (eds.), Wisdom in Ancient Israel (Cambridge: CUP, 1995).

Dell, K., Get Wisdom, Get Insight: An Introduction to Israel’s Wisdom Literature (London: Darton Longman & Todd, 2000).

Gammie, J. G., and L.G.Perdue, The Sage in Israel and the ancient Near East (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1990).

Grabbe, L. L., Priests, Prophets, Diviners, Sages: A Socio-Historical Study of Religious Specialists in Ancient Israel (Valley Forge, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1995).

Hunter, A., Wisdom Literature (London: SCM, 2006).

Jarick, J. (ed.), Perspectives on Israelite Wisdom: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar (London: Bloomsbury, 2015).

McKane, W., Prophets and Wise Men (London: SCM, 2012).

Murphy, R. E. The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature (3rd edn., New York, 2002).

Penchansky, D., Understanding Wisdom Literature: Conflict and Dissonance in the Hebrew Text (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2012).

Rankin, O. S., Israel’s Wisdom Literature (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1936).

von Rad, G., Wisdom in Israel (London: SCM, 1972).

Sheppard, G. T., Wisdom as a Hermeneutical Construct (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1980).

Skehan, P., Studies in Israelite Poetry and Wisdom (Washington, D.C.: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1971).

Weeks, S., An Introduction to the Study of Wisdom Literature (London: T & T Clark, 2010).

Whybray, R. N., The Intellectual Tradition in the Old Testament (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1974).

ii. Proverbs 1-9: Commentaries and Specific Publications

Clifford, R. J., Proverbs: A Commentary (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 1999).

Fox, M. V., Proverbs 1–9: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York: Doubleday, 2000).

Fox, M. V., Proverbs 10–31: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2009).